Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Book Review: Naturally Thin

I've written before about my love for the Real Housewives franchise, and that is by no means limited to the TV shows themselves. So when I heard about Bethenny Frankel's book Naturally Thin and saw how all over the blog world it was, I knew I had to pick up a copy and and read it for myself. I have to preface this by saying that I am not now, nor have I ever been, over-weight or actively trying to change my lifestyle to lose weight - which is not to say that I'm not constantly looking for ways to improve my health and eating habits, but just that I'm probably in a different place than the audience this book is intended for. Anyway, here's what I thought:

The Good

Bethenny definitely has some awesome recipes and food ideas in the book. I enjoy my cereal and the occassional bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, but I had NEVER thought of using leftover brown rice as a morning food! The combination of ingredients she suggested for morning brown rice was also delicious - raisins, nuts, cinnamon, and a natural sweetener. Yum! I'm still on the fence about brown rice, but I've taken to using this combo in my morning oats.

It is made very clear from the outset that the reader should NOT do what Bethenny does verbatim, but find what works for them. This point is so often overlooked in diet and healthy living books that I'm glad finally someone decided to emphasize it a ton! It's so true, too! Life is so much better if you enjoy what you're doing.

Nothing is off limits! (except for super obvious things, like diet soda). I've never read a diet/healthy eating book before that didn't massively restrict things before, and it's refreshing to see someone in that field that acknowledges that people are still going to eat chips and cheesecake. Her bank account metaphor really makes sense and will help a lot of people learn how to make good choices while still eating what they want.

The Bad

Bethenny's message, while a good one, often comes off as your skinny (bitchy) friend telling you "If you just quit eating so much you'll be fine". And let's be honest, that's just really annoying after awhile.

While the book explicitly states several times that Bethenny's personal diet should not be followed and is only being printed for reference, the implication is still there, and she frankly does not eat enough for anyone who even lightly exercises daily. Many other bloggers have written about this point in their reviews as well, and now that I've read it myself, I can tell you again that it's true.

Overall, this book was a quick, interesting read with a lot of good, sensical ideas in it. And some delicious-sounding recipes, too! I don't think it's going to solve the problems of anyone with a ton of weight to lose, but it's some good food for thought (haha, puns) and a decent reference material to have on hand.